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Protect Your Right to Hunt and Own Firearms

This article is intended to be a wakeup call to everyone that enjoys hunting and treasures their right to own firearms. The current trend in America is to take away our ability to hunt. The major culprits in this onslaught on our rights to own guns and hunting are the liberal politicians and the news media.
Every since some disgruntled U.S. Postal Service employees made it fashionable to shoot and kill bosses and fellow employees, the trend is growing by leaps and bounds throughout the nation. It seems like every few weeks we hear about another shooting tragedy. Now it is even fashionable for school kids to shoot teachers and fellow classmates -- Columbine High School. In fact, the current newsworthy shooting is the Atlanta shooting incident where an investor killed his family, fellow workers, and them himself with either guns or knives for a total of 13 fatalities.
The news media loves a tragedy, especially a shooting, so they can push their anti-gun messages. Many liberal politicians then capitalize on the news media blitz by telling voters that they are the one to pass laws to get rid of the "bad" guns. This creates a "politically incorrect" climate for the politicians with common sense that analyze the true problem, which is criminals, and put blame where blame is due, which is again with the criminal element. It is much easier to blame shootings on the weapons rather than the people that are actually pulling the trigger. I encourage all readers to look at what gun legislation is being proposed and backed by the politicians you elect into office. The current “general” trend is for Democrats to push anti-gun and anti-hunting laws, especially during the first few months after a tragic shooting. The Republican Party seems to be protecting gun rights while pushing tougher laws and sanctions against criminals that use guns illegally. This is true in most cases, but not in all cases, so you still need to do your homework as an educated and informed voter.
I have made these generalizations for the eye opening effect that they provide. If you are voting for Democratic candidates, then 99% of the time you are voting to outlaw guns and make criminals of law-abiding gun owners and hunters. This may not sit well with you if you mostly vote Democratic, but the facts are the facts. If you watch anti-gun legislation at both the federal and state level, then you know that I have hit the nail on the head with this comment. Therefore, if you are a Democrat and love to hunt and own firearms then you need to do one of two things. You need to either voice your concerns with all Democratic politicians that keep pushing laws to make you a criminal, or you need to start voting for the Republican Party. I can’t make it any simpler or clearer than that.
The sad fact is that 80 million law-abiding gun owners in America are letting the liberal and fanatic minority make and pass all the anti-hunting and anti-gun laws. These folks are not scared to pump hundreds of dollars per year per person into negative advertisements against guns or hunting. Or else they give lots of money to liberal politician's to help them get elected. With the backing of politicians and the news media, these liberal/fanatical groups appear to be a very large and powerful force. This simply isn’t the truth, they are the loudest group and are willing to put their money where their mouth is. If this trend keeps going unchanged from its current course, your grandchildren or even your children may very well lose the Second Amendment and the American hunting heritage.
I am always talking to hunters and gun owners and it truly amazes me how many of them do nothing or very little to try to save their right to bear arms. Most never write letters to their elected politicians, they keep voting for the Democrats that are proposing and backing anti-hunting and anti-gun legislation, and they don’t belong to any organizations that are out fighting for their cherished rights. Why is this? Why are there only 3 million NRA members when there are 80 million law-abiding gun owners in America? Why don’t more people take the time to follow legislation or write letters to politicians?
The answer I always seem to get from fellow hunters and gun owners is that they don’t have time to write letters that probably won’t make a difference anyhow. These folks also weren’t aware that their political party was out to destroy their hunting and firearm rights. And now that they know the truth, they will likely still vote for the same political party for many more years to come simply out of habit. Many hunters have the false impression that buying a yearly hunting license is enough of a cash contribution to wildlife conservation. Lots of gun owners and hunters say they don’t have enough money to pay for an organization membership. Many people say the gun organizations are too political or fight the wrong battles. Well, if that is the case then recruit more members that think like you do or run for an office and make a difference in the organization. It’s a down right tragedy to see and hear the many excuses I keep getting.
I am asking and even pleading with all hunters and gun owners to start getting a lot more involved. Everyone of us needs to join both a federal and a state level organization that is out to protect our gun rights. We need to also join a wildlife conservation organization that fights bad hunting laws and puts money out for wildlife habitat conservation. All of us need to take a close look at our current claimed political party and analyze the hunting and gun rights stance of the politicians we are putting into office. Two or three different yearly membership dues cost less than a case of ammunition. And there even cheaper if dues are paid a few years in advance. So please, stop making monetary excuses and do everything that you possibly can to protect your rights. Take the time to support your heritage and freedoms!
Just to tell you a little about myself, I am a life member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), and the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) -- all of which are pro-gun organizations. I am currently on the year 1999/2000 Board of Directors for the CRPA and I am a member of its Hunting and Wildlife Committee, Law Enforcement Committee, and the Membership Committee. I am an avid, long-time hunter and I own a gundog Beagle kennel. I am also a full-time Peace Officer, a Master Sergeant/E-8 in the US Army Reserves, and a part-time College Professor teaching Administration of Justice and Military Science courses. I say all of these things to give me some credibility in which to write this article, but to mainly show others that I am committed toward making a difference. All hunters and gun owners need to give some available time to recruiting new members into the organizations that they belong to. Occasionally, we all need to dig deep and donate some extra money when a long, hard political campaign is being fought. Also, if you have some leadership skills, then please consider running for a Board of Director position within at least one of your membership organizations.
The simple fact is that all 80 million American (legal, registered, & licensed) gun owners and hunters need to take an active part in protecting our rights. The liberals and fanatics are going the extra mile to take away all of our freedoms and we better start getting just as fanatical about keeping them. Get rid of the attitude that others will save your rights for you, or that there are too many gun owners and hunters to have bad laws passed by the fanatics. More and more of the general population that do not own guns, do not hunt, and have not been educated on the values of hunting and wildlife conservation are in fact joining the anti-hunting and anti-gun opposition at an alarming rate. Folks, the facts are the facts and we are losing the war one battle at a time. Each year a few more bad gun laws and bad hunting laws are getting passed and the American public is getting use to voting for them. Please, get off your butt and start making a bigger difference. Join a national pro-gun organization, join a state pro-gun organization, join a wildlife conservation organization, vote only for pro-gun and pro-hunting politicians, and take the time to write letters to politicians so your voice is heard. Lets do everything in our power to protect the Second Amendment and the American hunting heritage for us, our children, and our grandchildren. If all of us don't take these threats on our rights, freedoms, and heritage more seriously, we just may wake up one morning with no guns in our homes and no freedoms to hunt any type of wild animals.

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